


It's in the Ice

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Seven H/C Bingo Card [47]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic), Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Gen, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 17:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8676328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: When they bring the boy to the hospital, Jack can See the way the Magic twines around him, clinging to his skin, ghosting over his face, twining around his fingers. It's brighter and stronger than any he's seen in a long time, and it makes something in his heart twist with a desperate longing for the ice. He's not ready to go back, not yet, but there's something about this boy that makes him wish he was.
When JJ Leroy and his Ice Magic fall into a broken Jack's lap, they both get the guidance they didn't know they needed. Takes place while Jack is in the hospital after his overdose.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Look, the world just needed more Check Please/Yuri!!! on Ice crossover fic, okay? Okay.
> 
> Unbeta'ed. Written for H/C Bingo Round 7.

When they bring the boy to the hospital, Jack can See the way the Magic twines around him, clinging to his skin, ghosting over his face, twining around his fingers. It's brighter and stronger than any he's seen in a long time, and it makes something in his heart twist with a desperate longing for the ice. He's not ready to go back, not yet, but there's something about this boy that makes him wish he was.

\----

When JJ finds out that he's in the same hospital as _Jack Zimmermann_ (he knows it was probably supposed to be a secret, but he can't help it if the nurses talk too loud around him, okay?), he can't help but want to seek him out. He watched the news, same as everybody else, and even though some part of him knows that Jack probably wants his privacy, he also can't help but want to learn more about him. Because he's not just a hockey player, he's Bad Bob's son, and if anyone could understand what it's like to want to be on the ice and know that there's something special, something _magical_ about it, it would be him.

So he wanders the halls of the hospital, sneaking glances into private rooms and creeping into corners he knows he shouldn't be in. It takes a few days, but in the end, he finds Jack's room. With a brazen certainty that he's cultivated on the ice, JJ pushes the door open and walks right up to Jack.

"Hi!" he says, holding a hand out to Jack. "I'm JJ."

Jack blinks down at him, surprise in his eyes that softens quickly into a smile. "Hi there, JJ. My name's Jack."

"I know," JJ says with a grin, "I'm a hockey player too!"

Jack laughs, and JJ thinks his smile is wide enough his face might split. "Good to know. What position do you play?"

"Center!" JJ says, and Jack hums a little in interest.

"Do you like it?"

JJ opens his mouth to answer, only for the words to still on his tongue. "I… I think so?"

Jack's face goes soft again, and he nods. "Yeah," he says gently, "I know what you mean."

JJ looks up at him, eyes wide and surprised. "You do?"

Jack nods again. "I really, really do."

After that, JJ makes a point of coming to see Jack as often as he can, sometimes twice a day. Jack is kind and understanding, if a little brittle on the edges, and even though JJ understands that Jack's fragile, he's not totally sure he understands why. It's why Jack's the first person JJ tells.

"I see things when I skate," he says, voice small as he traces patterns on the sheets on Jack's hospital bed. "I haven't told anybody yet, but sometimes I think they know. I think it's why they brought me here, not just the concussion."

"What do you see?"

JJ looks up at Jack. At the open curiosity and genuine interest in his eyes. It makes him brave for the first time in a long time. "Patterns in the ice. Paths that would take me right through opposing players twice my size. And sometimes I hear things. Never whole words or sentences, but enough to make it feel real. To make it feel like the ice is telling me to dance when all I want to do it protect the puck."

Jack hums, reaching a hand out toward JJ. "May I?" JJ nods at Jack's question, and lets Jack touch three fingers to the center of his forehead. Then Jack slides his hand down the side of JJ's face, letting it rest there for a moment before sliding around to the back of his neck. "It is the ice," Jack says, drawing his hand back. "You have more Ice Magic in you than most hockey players. You're actually almost exactly in the right range for a figure skater. Too low for speed skating, but just right for figure skating."

JJ blinks up at Jack. "How can you tell?"

Jack smiles wryly. "I'm not gifted with Casting, but my Sight is better than average. It's lets me see the potential of different Mages, see what they need to succeed. Just like you can see the paths in the ice, I can see the paths in people's magic, at least for those of us connected to the ice."

JJ stares up at Jack, feeling the wheels turning in the back of his mind, something clicking into place. "Figure skating, eh?" he asks, needing Jack's confirmation to lock that final certainty in place.

Jack smiles. "Figure skating."

\----

Ten years later, Jack's the first person JJ texts when he wins Skate Canada. _thank you_

_Any time, kid._

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


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